MennoR

Interesting additional info. Thanks for that. I remember that he told me that energy prices are high in Germany. However... Dutch prices are on the rise as well... 46% of what a household pays, is tax! Menno

... that coal burning in Germany is an odd thing. I am a certified sailing instructor and a few years back I had a nice German gentleman on my boat for 5 days. He wanted to learn to sail. He told me that he was a Board member of RWE (RWE website) and one of the things he told me that on certain days, Germany is capable of producing >100% of its energy needs from solar power and wind. On a sunny but windy day, the windmills in the north and on hills and solar panel parks on the south-facing banks in the south produce more power than Germany needs! Coal power is cheap but Germany's last coal mine closed down last year. So perhaps it's time for them to switch to other resources as well. Menno

Merkel warns for hybrid warfare from Russia and mentions the youths' climate strike as an example...

Welcome here. It's a fine place. You'll feel at home here! Menno

So did they over here a few weeks ago. The McDonald's and the KFC nearby the square where the demonstration was, were completely out of food after the demo. The mess they left behind on the square was so much that the City Council of The Hague needed two full dump trucks to move all the debris and trash... What's more: lots of these kids were interviewed and -very naive- a few of them told reporters that their family had plans for 3 holidays/year by plane... My guess: max 10% of the kids on the demo grounds were sincerely there for a better environment. The others were there for a day out. Can't blame them. Menno

That's a great find. Modern magazines like PM can't cope with that nowadays. They've been overrun by dedicated YouTube channels. My science-teaching colleagues think that those channels are the best invention since sliced bread - and perhaps a better invention. You still get the same info, even more perhaps. My wife used to work as a communications director for a Dutch publishing company (owner of UK's Effacts among others) and around the end of the last century, they already started switching to digital content. Which was rather tricky back then, because lawyers etc are (were) pretty 'old school' when it comes (came) to taking in new information. Still, that PM is, of course, a monument of information from an era gone by. Menno

1. It wasn't as if I was buying my first Saab 96... 2. Lot's of luck off course: it can easily break down on the trip home. 3. 2800 euros and a cheap ticket would not have been the end of the world. It's not as if I go out to buy a very early 911... But, in hindsight: a trailer would have been a better solution. Menno

A whole heap of cars have found its way the other way around: from the UK to the Continent. Or from Scandinavia to more southern parts of Europe. Like my Saab 96 that came from the middle part of Sweden. My Saab was advertised on Blocket.se (sort of Gumtree). It had belonged to an older gentleman who had bought the car new in 71. After he'd passed away in '07, his daughter put it up for sale. I bought a plane ticket to Stockholm and took the train to the north (Bollnäs). In my luggage a few tools (spanners, but not knowing what to take with me). The asking price for the car was 30,000 Skr = 2,800 euros (then). I took 35,000 Skr with me. 30K for the car (max) and the remaining for repairs and fuel. The car was in perfect condition and had only covered 55K kms between 71 and 07! It came with a ton of paperwork. Everything was there. All I had to to was freeing the LH rear drum (some binding) and I could drive the car home: Sweden, Denmark, North of Germany and The Netherlands. Took me 2.5 days (those old cars aren't that fast anymore... the Autobahn was hell...). Make sure that you have proper insurance before you go: I phoned the insurance company before I left to Sweden and agreed with them a temporary policy the moment I would own the car (paid, registered) Paperwork wasn't a problem. Dutch bureaucracy is used to people importing a car. Here, you can take it home and contact the authorities telling that you own an import vehicle. You have to swing by a designated MoT (not your run of the mill garage) for a safety check etc. Then you can apply for plates. Period-correct I may add. Easy Jet was super-cheap. But it was a gamble. When the car is less well maintained, I would suggest that you bring a trailer and haul the car on the trailer. When doing the trip again, I would certainly take a trailer.

Sort of political refugee you mean? I suppose you can. I have no idea if that's possible when you're not already here. I think that you have to live/work here. The sources of both articles: the first is from an online 'paper'. They're often very sceptical about the EU's movements and actions. The article is written by a law professor who has a weekly column on those pages. The second article is from an old school 'paper'. That newspaper is pro-EU. The second article is written by a historian (also a professor). That historian has written a few very readable essays about 'fake news'. Well, that's where he's known for here in Holland. Menno

Here's another one, lifted and translated from a Dutch paper today:

The Dutch have great memories of the welcome they received from the Brits. No doubt about that! (In fact, there's a musical about one of the 'Engelandvaarders' (one single word as in: 'Those who went to England'). That guy later became Adjudant to the Dutch Queen Wilhelmina who stayed in London during the war. His real life turned into a Ian Fleming saga and the musical runs since 2010, 6 days/week. That 'warm welcome' is very much alive in Dutch modern history! Therefore, when people from the UK come over to Holland (or better: The Netherlands), there's a 100% warm welcome. My wife has 5 British men working at her office. They've even invested in 'hardware' for 'cups of tea'. The only downfall is the fact that those guys want to use a different sort of milk for the tea than is sold over here. Her rule about Brexit-related conversations: 'only between noon and 1 PM (lunchtime).' In case of a Brexit, every Brit here in Holland gets 15 months (and probably more) time to make up his mind what he/she wants to do. Stay/leave/ask for a permanent work-permit like the US, Can and South Koreans or become a Dutch citizen. About the pic of the newspapers... Those newspapers headlines are unthinkable here. Saying loud what's written on the pic above is close to discrimination and racism according to Dutch law (not: general opinion!). Interestingly - and it springs to mind when writing this- NONE of those British workers for British companies is seen as economic refugees! Whereas people from the 'sub-Sahara countries' are often seen as economic refugees. M

Over here, we simply don't know what to think. On one hand, it will bring logistic companies into trouble (is the idea, no-one knows exactly when and how). On the other hand, newspapers' headlines are "Brexit will be a gold mine for us!" British companies moving to Holland = jobs, houses to build etc. Having said that: in 2018, data was issued about the number of companies and employees that had gone over to us. One newspaper wrote: "Meager result, only a handful companies made the crossing" (crossing referring to the '39-'45 period when Dutch citizens crossed the North Sea in small boats to England). The other newspaper wrote: "Hundreds of new jobs due to the UK companies settling here!" Both articles were written on the same day using the same data... It's nearly impossible to get a good picture of the whole situation. I have not enough knowledge about the Irish border question to say anything useful about that. I only think that when that problem hadn't been a problem (for whatever reason), the EU would have turned to the Gibraltar/Spain issue as an issue to discuss. (Don't get me wrong. Not bagatalising the Irish / Northern Irish issues here - I used it as an example ).

This appeared on a Dutch news website. Translation is done by Translate Google. Grammarly and Translate do not recognise the word 'ocaze'. It's from the Dutch word (borrowed from the Russians) 'Oekaze' and stands for: The last and final word of the Emperor.

When I close my eyes, I can see people in the Vegas' streets running like ants when their nest is under attack: all in shock and awe 'what to do when that nasty stuff falls on your head'! I remember a holiday season in Southwest Florida when on a certain day, the temps dropped below 20C in the morning. Locals wearing hoodies and mittens, older 'snowbirds' wearing a fur coat... And we, being on holiday from NW Europe and together with the snow-beaten people from the northern East Coast states, were still strolling along in t-shirts, shorts and flipflops! Menno

^^^ this ^^^ ... and change 'National' into 'International'. As I told before, I found a copy of TRA on the table in the waiting room of a classic car / tyre & wheel repair shop here in Holland... MEnno